CLIMATE ZONING FOR THE CULTIVATION OF AFRICAN MAHOGANY SPECIES IN BRAZIL

Rodrigo De Sousa Oliveira,Túllio Morais Franca

doi:10.1590/01047760202026032748

Rodrigo De Sousa Oliveira, Túllio Morais Franca

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/01047760202026032748

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Abstract

African mahogany is the common name given to different species of the genus Khaya. They are tree species native to the African continent, which have a wood quality that allows their noble use in making fine furniture, and in the civil and naval industries. Currently, African mahogany cultivation has received notoriety in Brazil and given its climatic conditions. The country has great potential for planting these species. The purpose of this work was to identify climatic aptitude zones for African mahogany in Brazil. Based on the Kppen classification and in the means of relative air temperature and annual rainfall, a base map interpolation was performed to select regions suitable and restricted to planting and adequate growth of African mahogany species. In general, the regions that presented temperatures between 22 °C and 30 °C were considered of high fitness, while temperature values below 14 °C restricts plantations growth. Regarding to precipitation, areas considered to be of high aptitude have between 700 to 3,000 mm.year-1, extreme values may indicate regions of low suitability and restricted to the cultivation of African mahogany. From the climatic characteristics, it was determined that about 60% of the Brazilian area was of high fitness, between 16% and 32% of medium fitness, and less than 20% as low fitness. The Northeastern semi-arid region proved to be restricted to the cultivation of these species due to the low annual rainfall and a few places in the South region was also restricted due to low temperatures and risks of frost.

Highlights

Wood product has great and worldwide demand, which stimulates the production and cutting of trees that have economic importance
The determination of zones with greater or lesser climatic fitness of the different species of African mahogany planted in Brazil (K. anthotheca, K. grandifoliola, K. ivorensis and K. senegalensis) was based on climatic characteristics of the naturally occurring areas of these species (Figure 1)
The species K. anthotheca showed high climatic aptitude in 77.6% of the national territory, based on annual rainfall, temperature averages, altitude and Köppen climate types considered in this study

Summary

Introduction

Wood product has great and worldwide demand, which stimulates the production and cutting of trees that have economic importance. An alternative to reduce illegal deforestation in native areas is the use of wood from commercial plantations of forest species in addition to the sustainable forest management. The implantation of commercial forests has been a new market trend, as they are important for reducing the forest deficit, protecting remaining native areas, fixing atmospheric carbon, and regulating the hydrological cycle (Grattapaglia and Kirst, 2008; Payn et al, 2015). In 2018, Brazil had about 7.83 million hectares of commercial forests that serve to several economic purposes (IBÁ, 2019). The Eucalyptus spp. and Pinus spp. occupy 72.4% and 20.1%, respectively, of this planted area, while species destined exclusively for sawnwood use, such as those of the genus Khaya A.

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